I'm not sure he's in a position to decline an offer really. If a team offers him an NHL contract, he should take it. He's not Justin Schultz. He's a mid-level prospect. If he doesn't take what we offer, I think it's fairly unlikely that five teams are gonna knock down his door.

Not looking good. Well, Kitchener has had a hard time getting their offense off the ground and a lot of players have been disappointing this year. Marcantuoni is among them. Though I was in his corner when we drafted him, I've quickly soured on him. He's a lot of speed, some skill and not all that much else it seems. His lack of hockey sense will likely preclude him from having a major NHL impact. At this point, I'd say we should hope that he becomes as good as Tyler Kennedy. Which to some is overly grim, but only to those that blindly dislike Kennedy.

Mikey, what is your opinion of Bryan Rust? His first two years in college he didn't show much offensive upside at all, this year is completely different and he is showing some offensive ability. Is he a possible future NHL player (bottom six)?

I've liked this pick, not for the upside, but the player struck me as decent quality. He's not gonna be a first liner, as you kinda allude to there, but he competes, he's skates well, seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. He might be the most clutch prospect we have. He seems to just make big plays in big spots. It's the CCHA tournament or whatever right now, and Notre Dame is against Bowling Green in a best of 3. It's game 2, about halfway through the 3rd period of a tie game, ND gets a penalty shot and the coach picks Rust to take it and just makes a neat little backhand play to help give ND the win.

He seems to be around a lot when good things happen. Not an elite skill set, but he's a righty that likes to compete and likes to win. He's not that big, loud diesel engine that drags boulders and moves mountains...he's a quiet engine that makes things go, he's a Prius (not like hipster nonsense stuff), he's quiet, he's effective. When it comes down to skill on skill, size on size, yeah, he's probably overmatched a bit...but he's gonna give it his all anyhow...

mikey287 wrote:I've liked this pick, not for the upside, but the player struck me as decent quality. He's not gonna be a first liner, as you kinda allude to there, but he competes, he's skates well, seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. He might be the most clutch prospect we have. He seems to just make big plays in big spots. It's the CCHA tournament or whatever right now, and Notre Dame is against Bowling Green in a best of 3. It's game 2, about halfway through the 3rd period of a tie game, ND gets a penalty shot and the coach picks Rust to take it and just makes a neat little backhand play to help give ND the win.

He seems to be around a lot when good things happen. Not an elite skill set, but he's a righty that likes to compete and likes to win. He's not that big, loud diesel engine that drags boulders and moves mountains...he's a quiet engine that makes things go, he's a Prius (not like hipster nonsense stuff), he's quiet, he's effective. When it comes down to skill on skill, size on size, yeah, he's probably overmatched a bit...but he's gonna give it his all anyhow...

So would it be fair to say he projects as an improved version of Joe Vitale, although playing wing not center?

Hmm...let me get back to you on that. When I give a comparable, I really try to get close to someone that's in the league and honestly, I just don't see Rust often enough to make a call like that right now. He's not quite as fast as Vitale I don't believe, but that might not be far off.

Herein lies the problem with Shero's stockpile defensemen strategy: We barely have enough AHL ice time to go around for these guys, let alone space to get them quality minutes in the NHL. Whitney and Goligoski were both established defensemen with enough NHL game tape to sell to other clubs. We like Despres, want to keep him, but right now he's the only defensive prospect with any real value for us. Bortuzzo isn't even really valuable because he hasn't seen enough action to prove himself. Meanwhile, Dumoulin and Morrow are going to be ready for the show next season, and we will have no room to fit them.

On the flipside, Stanley Cup contenders need veteran blueliners, so I don't expect a firesale of our veterans in the coming off season. We seem to be stuck with a glut of good prospects and no room to develop them properly.

Disagree, at least for now. Aren't Dylan Reese and Joey Mormina - a couple of AHL vets - getting regular time this year? So, there's still room to squeeze out another couple of guys. If the organization feels that Morrow absolutely has to be fast-tracked to the point that he's out grown the AHL (he has not, IMO) then we make a trade and get him in there. Otherwise, you let training camp take it's course and you see what happens...I wouldn't at all be panicked/bothered by it right now...nothing bad has happened...and it doesn't look like anything bad will happen next year either...

Gonna have to tap into that bucket of young defenseman in a couple years. Orpik, Nisky, Letang and Engelland are all UFAs after next year. Can't assume they will all be back. I worry about the Pens ability to resign Letang if he hits the Norris trophy jackpot.

DesertPenguin wrote:We like Despres, want to keep him, but right now he's the only defensive prospect with any real value for us.

wat

You won't be getting full value from Morrow, Pouliot, Matta, Harrington, Dumoulin until they play at least a season in the NHL. Despres fits that bill now. I only see room for one guy a year on the big club getting that experience, and that implies that someone from the year before has left via free agency or trade. It's impossible to develop all these guys into valueable trade assets and still contend because doing so requires them to play NHL minutes first.

On the flip side, we could also be bringing up young guys for sheltered minutes on the bottom pairings at forward, but now that Bennett is up, the forward cupboard is bare. I would have preferred more balance to our prospect pool in order to get full value from the guys we have. We're going to sell some of these guys short of what they could be worth because of the asterisk next to their name that reads: "Lacks NHL experience"

I'm not sure what "full value" is, because you can't assume that each of those prospects is going to pan out. They could get called up and, for whatever reason, fail to make it at this level/look bad/get hurt/quit hockey and become bakers. Despres, who is obviously on the right track, isn't a guarantee either.

People understand that prospects "lack NHL experience." It doesn't mean you can't get "real value", whatever that means despite them having played 0 NHL minutes.

We're going to sell some of these guys short of what they could be worth because of the asterisk next to their name that reads: "Lacks NHL experience"

Maybe. And maybe they turn out to be jabronis and we -- in hindsight -- fleeced some team. These prospects hold plenty of value as is.